Infante (, ;
f. infanta), also
anglicised as
Infant, is the title and rank given in the
Iberian kingdoms of
Spain (including the predecessor kingdoms of
Aragon,
Castile,
Navarre and
León), and
Portugal, to the sons and daughters (
infantas) of the king, sometimes with the exception of the
heir apparent to the throne who usually bears a unique princely or ducal title. The wife of an
infante was accorded the title of
infanta if the marriage was
dynastically approved (e.g.
Princess Alicia of Bourbon-Parma), although since 1987 this is no longer automatically the case in Spain (e.g.
Princess Anne d'Orléans). Husbands of born
infantas did not obtain the title of
infante through marriage (unlike most
hereditary titles of
Spanish nobility), although occasionally elevated to that title
de gracia ("by grace") at the sovereign's command.